BBC1 dominated rivals on Sunday night with the return of Call the Midwife attracting a record audience, with the debut of The Musketeers comfortably winning a showdown with the opener of the latest series of ITV's Mr Selfridge.

The first episode of the third series of Call The Midwife attracted an average audience of 9.6 million and a 36% share between 8pm and 9pm.

It was the highest-ever rating episode of the series, which stars Jenny Agutter and Miranda Hart, beating the previous record of 9.33 million notched up in series two on 20 January last year.

BBC1's 10-part drama The Musketeers, which stars Peter Capaldi, started strongly with an average audience of 7.4 million and a 29% share between 9pm and 10pm.

It comfortably saw off ITV's Mr Selfridge, which started its second series on Sunday night and managed an average of 5.3 million and a 19% share between 9pm and 10pm.

Dancing on (thin) Ice

ITV's Dancing on Ice saw its ratings fall again on Sunday night, attracting an average of 5.8 million viewers and a 24% share between 6.15pm and 7.45pm.

The need for speed

Channel 4's highest-rating show of the day was the final instalment of Speed with Guy Martin, which drew a tough slot against Call the Midwife and Dancing on Ice's results show.

The finale of the four-part series managed a respectable 2 million viewers and a 6.6% share between 8pm and 9pm.

Big Brother keeps them watching

Channel 5's top performer was, unsurprisingly, Celebrity Big Brother, which proved the resilience of its audience, managing 2.7 million viewers in the 9pm slot.

The show managed a 9.1% share of viewing, up against the debut of The Musketeers and the return of Mr Selfridge.

Elsewhere...

Fiona Bruce-fronted BBC1 show Fake or Fortune? returned for a third series, managing 4.8 million viewers and a 21.8% share between 6pm and 7pm.

Charlotte Moore, BBC One controller said: "Sunday night saw BBC1 launch two new high-quality original British drama series, with Call the Midwife scoring its highest rating episode to date, and a fantastic response to our new 10-part blockbuster The Musketeers."

All ratings are Barb overnight figures, including live, +1 (except for BBC channels) and same day timeshifted (recorded) viewing, but excluding on demand, or other – unless otherwise stated. Figures for BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 generally include ratings for their HD simulcast services, unless otherwise stated

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